The international spotlight is about to shine on Canada’s track record on women’s human rights and BC may get caught in the glare. Provincial and federal compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is set to be reviewed on October 25th by the expert UN Committee tasked with… View Article

After an election campaign in which women’s equality became a rhetorical tool in a divisive attempt to instill fear and xenophobia in voters and control women’s religious choices, Canada has opted for a more hopeful federal government. But where does that leave women in BC? We know the primary causes of women’s inequality: disproportionate financial… View Article

Last week, First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition published its annual report card on child poverty in BC. As in past years, the results were sobering. Based on 2012 data, 20.6% of children, or one of five, live in poverty in BC. Nearly half of children living in single parent families live below… View Article

On June 16 the Premier announced BC’s new 10 year plan, “Accessibility 2014: Making BC the Most Progressive Province in Canada for People with Disabilities by 2024.” The plan is the result of the provincial government’s Disability White Paper Consultation earlier this year. While many participants had a healthy amount of skepticism before, during and… View Article

(Co-authored by Kendra Milne and Jess Hadley, staff lawyers at the Community Legal Assistance Society) Earlier this week, we read with interest Kathy Tomlinson’s January 21st CBC Go Public story, “Landlords ‘powerless’ as tenants get free ride”, which investigates one family of tenants who have apparently taken advantage of several successive landlords. In her article,… View Article

Yesterday some media outlets reported that the Residential Tenancy Branch has conditionally waived the first (and to my knowledge only) administrative penalty it has issued. BC’s Residential Tenancy Act was amended in 2006 to allow the Branch to issue administrative penalties, essentially monetary fines, against landlords or tenants that contravene the Act or repeatedly ignore… View Article

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